IS SOMEONE TAKING THE MICK IN DIGBETH?

31-07-2007

On the eve of a Radio Four "You And Yours" investigation into the Digbeth noise debate, The Stirrer has unearthed details of a recent planning application which casts light on Birmingham’s curious attitude to its night time economy.

The application was for a residential development on two buildings in Bradford Street, and it contains a noise assessment carried out by Redditch based SLR Consulting.

Two key factors they identified were 1) the sound of traffic and 2) music coming from the nearby Irish Centre.

Now no one is casting any aspersions on SLR’s professionalism, but here’s the remarkable thing - as they admit in their report, on the two nights on which they carried their survey, the Centre wasn’t hosting any events.

The surveyor dutifully noted that there are no openings from the building onto Bradford Street- thus restricting the volume - and they conclude that “it is understood” that there is little noise generated other than people arriving and leaving.

Maybe that’s true? But wouldn’t it better to find out for yourself? Especially when you are planning a new residential block?

Can it really make sense to judge the sound coming from an entertainment venue when there’s no entertainment on?

SLR obviously thinks so - and so, evidently, does the Planning Committee as they passed the application.

The interesting thing will be to see what happens when residents move in and there’s a noisy band on. The Irish Centre used to be one of Birmingham’s major gig venues and there’s no reason why it couldn’t be again.

Or at least there wasn’t - but could future concerts be jeopardised by complaints from the new residents simply because they weren’t anticipated at this stage in the planning process?

The evidence from the nearby Spotted Dog suggests they could (link)

And what about the future development of the Centre, which planners know full well is on the cards.

If it wants to expand and have a more attractive frontage onto Bradford Street (ie not just brick) could music escape more easily?

And will its ability to host wedding receptions and discos - which are its stock in trade - thus be jeopardised? If so, the place is doomed.

In fairness to the planners, they have insisted on tough sound insulation standards for the new flats, based on SLR’s research, but this is primarily to deal with traffic noise - not the sound of merriment from one of the city’s best known clubs.

We have reported previously that many Irish Centre regulars fear that by taking part in the development of this Quarter, they might actually be signing their own death warrant (see link here)

In a city where they can be assessed for noise on a night when they weren’t actually making any noise, anything is possible.

Check out You and Yours, Radio 4 Wednesday at noon. And sign the petition at www.keepdigbethvibrant.co.uk

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